Schools

Three Clark Educators to Present Programs at Teachers Convention

Only a few programs are chosen to be presented at annual gathering of about 10,000 teachers and administrators.

The Professional Development Committee of the New Jersey School Boards Association has informed three members of the Clark School District that their innovative programming initiatives have been selected for presentation at the NJSBA workshop in Atlantic City next month.

The NJSBA workshop, the largest gathering of educational leaders in the State of New Jersey, takes place at the Atlantic City Convention Center from October 22-24.  Only a select few programs are chosen to be presented to the gathering of approximately 10,000 board of education members, superintendents, school business administrators, and other school district leaders.

The first program to be presented is “Teaching, Technology, and the Tennessee Titans,” developed by Frank K. Hehnly fourth-grade teacher Nicole Parlavecchio. Through this program, Parlavecchio’s fourth graders Skype on a regular basis with members of the National Football League’s Tennessee Titans. The Titan players involved in the program read literary selections to the fourth graders, engage in higher level thinking skill activities with their fourth grade counterparts, and assign homework and follow-up assignments to the students. On occasion, the Titan players will actually use their Twitter accounts to highlight and share the work of the fourth graders.

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The second program presented is “Enhancing the Delivery of Mathematics Via the Progressive Mathematics Initiative” and is being co-presented by Carl H. Kumpf Middle School Mathematics Teacher Krista Chapman and Assistant Superintendent Ed Grande. The Progressive Mathematics Initiative, now in its second year of implementation in the Clark Schools, is a uniform teacher-designed curriculum, which encourages student to investigate, collaborate, and master the concepts of mathematics. It is a multidimensional program which allows students to engage with the material through a technological medium. Teachers utilize specifically developed SMART Board presentations for each topic, which include responder questions to allow students to respond to posed questions and receive immediate feedback. The program has been highly successful in district, according to Superintendent Ken Knops.

Due to the anticipated popularity of the presentations, both sets of presenters have been requested to present on three different occasions over the duration of the NJSBA Workshop.

Find out what's happening in Clark-Garwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 “Each of the programs selected for presentation is cutting edge and highly innovational," said Superintendent Ken Knops. "My congratulations to Mr. Grande, Miss Chapman, and Miss Parlavecchio for creating and developing these wonderful programs that other districts might be fortunate to adopt within their own instructional programs after hearing our staff present.”


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